To Win Her Heart (30 page)

It took a full week for Levi to recover the strength and stamina necessary to walk erect and drive a wagon, but he was determined not to postpone his outing with Eden again. So, the following Saturday he had her in the same buggy, on the same road, headed for the same location—with the same nerves churning in his stomach.

“You’re sure you’re up for this drive?” Eden’s hand lay in the crook of his arm, and she gave his bicep a squeeze. Warmth radiated through him, making him long for more of her touch, for the right to claim her fully as his.

He glanced her way and smiled, the corner of his mouth still tender where the scab tightened the skin. “Yep.”

She smiled back, and the quivers inside him accelerated.

Who would have thought a fine lady like Eden Spencer would ever look twice at a coarse ironmonger like him? Yet even now with his face a patchwork of green, yellow, and deep purple, her beautiful mossy eyes glowed with an inner light that exuded love. For him. A convicted felon. A man with neither wealth nor reputation. A man who couldn’t even properly enunciate her entire name.

A man who returned her love a hundredfold.

He’d be forever thankful for the quarry worker who had seen Duncan and Chloe sitting on the boardinghouse porch last week and casually mentioned the fracas going on at the schoolyard. Had that conversation not taken place, Eden could have been seriously injured trying to defend him, and he’d most likely be dead. Made a man appreciate his aches and pains, when he considered the alternative.

It also made the time he had to spend with the incredible woman at his side that much more precious. Who would have guessed that his little pacifist would become such a fierce warrior when pushed to her limit? Spencer had been abuzz all week with gossip about how Eden had faced down a Goliath with nothing but a baseball bat. It even seemed to overshadow the news about his time spent in Huntsville.

Levi shook his head, a small chortle reverberating in his throat.

“What?” Eden gave him a quizzical look.

“Nothing.” Levi couldn’t hold back his grin, though, and Eden started looking perturbed. “I . . . uh . . . thinking about the time you got mad at me for . . . trampling that cockroach. Then remembered how you lit into Goodwin with that bat. I found it funny.”

The stiffness drained out of her, but she didn’t seem to share his amusement. Instead, she sighed and stared out at the landscape, although he sensed that she wasn’t really seeing it.

“I feel guilty.”

Levi sobered, mentally kicking himself for bringing up the stupid cockroach.

“I’m not sorry for intervening,” she said. “In fact, I’d do it again. But it seems like in choosing to do so, I surrendered my pacifist principles. Am I a hypocrite?”

He laid a hand on her knee. “No, Eden. Not a hypocrite. You are a brave, beautiful woman, a guardian of pea . . . of life. You fought only when you had no other option. Truly honorable.”

Her eyes searched his gaze, and he looked at her with all the admiration that swelled in his heart. She turned away, unconvinced. So he reached across his body and cupped her cheek, drawing her lips to his. It was a light kiss, intended to reassure, but as they swayed with the rhythm of the carriage, the caress deepened. And when Eden splayed her palm across his chest, desire surged so hard and strong, Levi had a hard time pulling away.

Neither spoke as they separated. Eden’s lashes lowered shyly as she dipped her chin, but her arm, hip, and thigh remained pressed snugly against his. A most welcome distraction as he returned his faltering attention to the road.

They crested the final hill, and a sea of blue spread across the field below them.

Eden’s indrawn breath coaxed another smile to his face. “Oh, Levi. How glorious! Look at all the bluebonnets. Have you ever seen anything more stunning?”

“Only you.”

She tipped her head toward his shoulder, a lovely pink blush stealing across her cheeks.

As the buggy rolled closer to the field, Eden sat straighter and leaned forward in the seat. “Levi? Do you see that over there?” She pointed toward the arch. “It looks like some kind of structure. You don’t think squatters have intruded on my field, do you?”

“No.” His heart started thumping and second thoughts started nagging. “I . . . uh . . . built it.”

“You . . . ?”

He nodded.

A smile lit her face. Then, without warning, she lunged back against the seat and held her hands over her eyes. “Tell me when we get there.”

Levi’s brow puckered as he looked from her to the road and back again. What was she doing?

“I want to see the whole thing all at once. Get the full effect,” she answered, as if privy to his unasked question.

She looked like a little girl on Christmas morning, obediently hiding her eyes while her parents fetched her present. Levi chuckled.

When the wagon reached the front of the arch, Levi stopped the horses and set the brake. “Don’t look yet,” he whispered in her ear. He came around to her side of the carriage and lifted her into his arms. She squealed and reached out to steady herself but managed to keep her eyes closed through the process. He set her feet on the ground and led her by the hand until she stood in position. When he released her, she lifted her hands back over her eyes as if afraid she’d give in to the temptation to peek without them in place. He smiled and moved around behind her, tugging her toward him until her back rested against his chest.

Levi ran his palms slowly up her arms, from elbows, to wrists, to fingers. She trembled and leaned more fully into him. He savored the feel of her for a moment, then gently slid her hands from her eyes. “Now.”

Eden gazed at the pillars and arch without a word. As the silent seconds ticked by, Levi found it harder and harder to stand still.

Finally, she turned. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “It is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Taking her hand again, he led her through the arch to one of the benches on the other side. As they sat, he kept her fingers clasped in his.

“Eden,” he said, staring at their joined hands. “I built the arch to reveal my heart. Your name will forever be the focal point, uplifted by love. And if you would permit me, I’d like to build more with you—a family and a life.” Levi raised his gaze to her face, surprised to see wetness glistening on her cheeks. “Eden, will you marry me?”

Her lips curled in a smile that rivaled the beauty of any wildflowers. “Yes. Oh, Levi. Yes!”

She pulled her hand from his and threw her arms around his neck. Joy erupted inside him. He brushed her upturned lips and pressed her body close to his. She sighed against his mouth and tangled her fingers in his hair. Levi’s blood heated. He moved in for another kiss, and another—each meeting of their lips making him hungry for more.

God had granted him a second chance at life, and this second life was far sweeter than anything he could have imagined for himself while in the first.

Spring had retreated under summer’s advance, taking with it the bluebonnets Eden so loved. But as Levi leaned against the arch’s pillar and sipped his too-strong coffee, he had to admit that the yellow flowers that had sprung up in their place had a beauty all their own. Sunflowers and smaller black-eyed Susans dotted the field, waving a cheery hello to him as the wind ruffled the prairie grass.

Tomorrow was his wedding day.

Levi grinned as a second thought followed on the heels of the first. Tonight was the last night he would sleep alone.

He pushed away from the pillar and strode up the trail to the cabin he’d built for his bride. Not yet able to afford window glass for the front room, he’d fashioned a large porch facing the wildflower field, where the two of them could sit together and share the happenings of their day.

Emma Cranford had rounded up the Ladies Aid group and organized a furniture drive. They’d collected enough spare pieces to fill a wagon bed and brought them out to the house. Most needed significant repairs, but he and Harvey Sims had managed to make them serviceable. Two mismatched rockers sat on the front porch; a table, two chairs, and a bench graced the kitchen; and a small bedstead and chest of drawers resided in the room that would hopefully become a nursery one day.

Yet, not all their furnishings were secondhand. Eden kept her parlor set, and her pressed-flower art decorated their walls. She also brought in her chiffonier, bureau, and washstand, but after taking one look at the spindly doll-furniture legs on her bed, Levi had insisted on making a new one for them to share. A man needed a bed that would support his weight and not have his feet hanging off the end. So now, in the center of their room, sat a sturdy, oversized, somewhat crudely fashioned bed surrounded by pieces of more refined craftsmanship.

Eden’s mother had been horrified when she’d first seen it, but Eden had argued that the room harmonized perfectly in her opinion. And when she’d looked at him and smiled, he’d seen it, too—a room that reflected the couple who would live and love within its walls.

Levi stood in the bedroom doorway, imagining what it would be like to come in after morning chores to find Eden making their bed. The wedding ring quilt she’d bought at the auction would be rumpled and tossed aside. She’d reach for a corner, and he would sneak up behind her, wrapping his arms about her waist. She’d try to shoo him away, but he’d ignore her and kiss her neck until she stopped resisting. The quilt would fall from her hands and the two of them would—

“Levi? Are you in here?”

He jerked away from the doorframe, nearly spilling the last bit of coffee from his cup. “In the back,” he called.

Eden rounded the corner into the narrow hall, her face beaming when she saw him. “After Mother and Father bought us the new cookstove for the house, I didn’t expect any other wedding gifts, but last night they surprised me. Look, Levi.” She held up the basket that swung on her arm and gestured for him to follow her to the bed. “Look what they gave me.”

Thankfully, when she sat, she placed the basket between them. After the direction his thoughts had been running, he needed the barrier. At least for one more day.

She reached into the basket and extracted a cloth-wrapped bundle, her excitement palpable. Eden laid it on her lap and folded back the edges of fabric to reveal a familiar oval frame. “Our bouquet! Isn’t it wonderful? When I was making it, I used to imagine it hanging above our . . . well . . . our . . . um . . . marriage bed.”

Eden suddenly dropped her gaze to her lap, and Levi grinned. So he hadn’t been the only one thinking such thoughts.

“When Father bought it in the auction, I was happy to know that it would stay in the family. But I never dreamed Mother would guess how much it meant to me, how it reminded me of you and our courtship, nor that she would actually present it to me as a wedding gift. Is it not marvelous?”

“Very thoughtful.” Did she know how adorable she was when she was excited? “If you leave it here, I can hang it tonight.”

“Would you? That would make everything perfect!”

Yep. Definitely adorable . . . and delectable.

“Oh, and you must see what Daddy gave me.” She pushed a folded sheet of paper at him. “Read it.”

Levi took the paper from her and scanned the contents. Gratitude welled in him as he read.

“I don’t know if it is even legal to deed over a single room of a house, but Daddy did it anyway. The library and all its contents are mine to do with as I please for as long as he owns the house.”

Her father had lived up to his agreement, and Levi would forever be in his debt. Although all Mr. Spencer had asked in return was that Levi make his daughter happy—a debt Levi was glad to make payments on for the rest of his life.

“Your father knows how much the library means to you.”

“Yes. Even more now, because it is where I fell in love with the man who is to be my husband.” She looked at him, her lips parted in invitation.

Kissable
lunged to the top of his adjective list. Levi bent toward Eden. His mouth covered hers. His hand lifted from his lap, aiming for her nape, when a masculine voice boomed from the front of the house.

“Eden! What’s taking you so long? Your mother’s growing warm out in the carriage. Hurry along.”

Levi sprang to his feet. “You didn’t tell me your father was waiting out there,” he accused in a hoarse whisper.

“Sorry,” she whispered back, fidgeting with one of her hairpins. “I . . . um . . . forgot.”

The way she looked at him from the corner of her eye and bit her lip gave him the impression that he was responsible for her forgetful state, an idea that filled him with such satisfaction, he couldn’t possibly be upset with her about it.

“Grant?” The man’s voice sounded decidedly less pleasant. “Best get out here, man.”

Eden rolled her eyes. “We’re coming, Daddy.” She grabbed Levi by the hand and tugged him out to the parlor.

Mr. Spencer’s gaze raked his daughter as if verifying that every button was done up, and then glared at Levi. “Took you long enough.”

“I was showing him the gifts you and Mother gave me. I haven’t even had a chance to tell him about our outing yet.”

Levi squeezed her hand. “Where are you going?”

“Not just me,” she said. “You’re coming with us.”

“But I have work to do here to get ready for—”

Eden shook her head, interrupting him. “It’ll have to wait. The train will be arriving in an hour, and we can’t be late.”

“Why do we have to meet the train?” It seemed like a waste of time to him. Everything was in place for the ceremony tomorrow. All he had to do was add a few finishing touches to the cabin—hang some curtains Georgia Barnes had sewn for him, pick some flowers for the jars Chloe had spread throughout the house—little things to surprise his bride. He didn’t want to go wait on a train.

“Please, Levi. You have to come.” Those big eyes of hers got all dewy, and Levi’s resistance wavered. “I sent away for something special, and it is to arrive today on the train. It is my wedding gift to you. You have to be there. Please say you’ll come.”

“All right.” As if there were ever really any question. “Let me get my hat.”

The train rolled in twenty minutes late. Levi had watched Eden pace the platform for the last ten, her parents having left them in order to lunch at the café. But when the whistle blew and the brakes squealed, she ran back to him and pulled him up off the bench.

“Levi, I have to tell you something.”

He scrunched his brows. What was going on in that beautiful head of hers? She’d had twenty minutes to tell him something. Why would she wait for the train to actually arrive before bringing it up?

“All right,” he said.

Eden gripped his hand between both of hers and gazed up at him, her fidgeting having finally stopped. “Since the day I met you, you have challenged my assumptions and pushed me beyond boundaries in my thinking that I didn’t even realize existed. I am a better person because of you.”

Humbled and overcome with pride in this woman who was about to be his wife, Levi struggled to find words to express what he felt. “Eden, you are . . . everything to me.”

In the background, people had started to disembark the train, and porters dashed to and fro, but Levi kept his gaze on the woman before him. She glanced over her shoulder once, then turned back and squeezed his hand.

“You encouraged me to expand my life in new directions and step out in greater faith. I want to do the same for you.”

Prickles of unease skated across the back of his neck.

“No matter what happens,” she said, “remember that I love you and believe in you with all my heart.” And with that cryptic pronouncement, Eden swiveled around to his side and faced the handful of passengers making their way toward the depot.

Passengers who looked strangely familiar.

Tension immobilized his muscles—all except his heart, which beat an increasingly rapid staccato rhythm against his ribs.

“Levi?” a feminine voice called—a voice he hadn’t heard in years.

“Mama?” he choked out, his voice broken.

She separated herself from the wide-shouldered man at her side and ran—yes, ran—to him and threw her arms around him, pinning his elbows to his sides when he failed to release Eden’s hand fast enough.

“Oh, my boy. How I’ve missed you.”

Levi absorbed the affection like the ground absorbed water after a drought. “I’m thorry, Mama.”

His mother let go and stepped back, wiping tears from her cheeks yet smiling as wide as he’d ever seen. She patted his face like she had when he’d been a boy, and that simple gesture seemed to erase all the poor choices he had made since then and offered him a place back in her good graces. She looked him up and down, then apparently satisfied that he hadn’t wasted away while they’d been apart, she turned her attention to Eden.

Leaning forward, she hugged Eden with the same enthusiasm with which she’d hugged him. “Thank you, dear girl. Thank you for giving me back my son.”

Levi didn’t catch the rest of what she said, for a shadow fell across his face, and he sensed another’s presence. His father. The man stood before him, his face more haggard than Levi remembered, his hair grayer around the temples, his eyes full of regret.

This was what he’d feared, why he’d never gone home, never even sent a letter. His father’s disappointment cut through him like a blade.

“I don’t warrant it, Pop, but I beg you to forgive me.”

His father just stood there, not saying a word. He pulled his hat from his head, and stared at the ground for a moment. When he finally looked up, his eyes were suspiciously bright.

“I . . . uh . . . hear you got a shop of your own, nowadays.” He coughed as if something had lodged in his throat. “Care to show your old man around?”

His eyes dampening, Levi nodded. “I’d like that, Pop.” Holding his breath, he reached out and clasped his father’s shoulder. Not only did the man not flinch, he clasped Levi’s arm in return. The grip of acceptance.

His father stepped close, his low murmur vibrating in Levi’s ear. “If your choice in bride is any indication, son, you’ve gained a great deal of wisdom in the last few years. I’m proud of you.”

Levi swallowed hard, the words he feared never to hear again falling like a healing balm upon his soul. His gaze sought out the woman who’d made it all possible and found the mossy green eyes he loved so well.

He mouthed the words
thank you.
She replied with a silent
I love you.
And Levi’s heart shouted his joy to the heavens.